Diamonds and Dirt
by Kawaiitomato69
Summary: The roaring '20s was a time for many things, jazz music, the rise of automobile use, women's rights, and economic prosperity. Krista, a young teen in these times, was a rich and popular girl in town who thought she had it all. When she meets Ymir, a girl whose life is the complete opposite of hers, she finds that her life has become a little less than 'perfect'.
1. Chapter 1

Krista sat in front of her vanity brushing her hair, the record player on the far end of her room playing a slow tune. She hummed to it as she ran the brush through her blonde locks, the light in front of her illuminating her hair a golden color. She hummed along to the music, sitting in the dim room in her night dress, brushing her hair, and staring at her reflection.

Krista had the good life, a family consisting of a mother, father and herself, money, lived in a mansion, and she never wanted for nothing. She was sophisticated, proper, she had manners, and she was a lady. She was ideal, her home was ideal, her family was ideal. Yes, Krista had the life that any girl wished for.

She put down her hairbrush, stood up, and spun around her in room, laughing and humming to the record. This was perfect; her clothes, her music, her home. Everything was perfect.

It was a Tuesday night and Kirsta decided to out with her friends to a small fair downtown. Wearing her hair in curls, her make up all set, and wearing her favorite dress she was ready to set out. She looked herself up and down in the mirror one more time. Her white dress, went down to the middle of her shins, almost down to her ankles, and had ruffles down each side, flower designs along the waste as a belt. The torso of the dress was plain, sleeveless, and dipped into a V at the neck; the lower was frilled and curved to the left.

Light brown pantyhose covered her legs, and she wore white, heeled shoes with a strap around the ankles. She finished off her look with a clip of two white flowers. Once clipped in her hair, Krista heard the honk of Bertholdt's car. Grabbing her purse, she headed downstairs. She kissed her father on the cheek goodbye, and headed out the door.

Once she was visible on her porch, she heard Connie and Sasha laugh and shout loudly. This was a big night for all of them, Bertholdt was finally able to come out of the confines of his house, and go out with them. His father was generally very strict and never let him go anywhere, so now that he was finally free for a night they were all very excited. Sasha was wearing a silk, dark brown dress with long sleeves, a white zipper that stopped at her chest, a belt-like design at the lower half of her waste, and a skirt that flowed. Her dark brown hair was in a bun, and she had in white pearl ear rings. Connie had on a grey, baggy hat, a white long sleeved shirt with a brown vest over it, an brown shorts that stopped at his knees. Bertholdt had on the simplest outfit of everyone; a light blue button down shirt with black pants, suspenders, and a black bow tie.

Krista lifted herself into the car, and they drove off as soon as she shut the door. "I am so excited! We're gonna have a great time, play all the games, eat all the food!" Sasha boasted with excitement.

Connie turned around with a grin on his face. "Maybe we could meet some people, yeah? A couple of gents for you two and some ladies for me and Bert!"

Bertholdt chuckled nervously, but just kept driving. Sasha gave a bored expression at Connie's words, "Connie, that's really not my priority right now."

Krista giggled as the two went on about Sasha's eating habits. She mostly enjoyed the way the wind felt through her hair and against her skin, the night air making it just the perfect temperature; chill, but not muggy or too cold. Once they pulled up to the fairgrounds, one could visibly see all four of the teenagers' excitement. Bertholdt stopped the engine, letting everyone out then hopped out himself. "Connie, really? Those shoes and socks?" Sasha remarked, pointing at his legs.

Connie was wearing black knee socks with cream colored shoes. "What? I think I look pretty spiffy." he made a pose and wriggled his eyebrows.

The two went back and fourth about their attire as the group payed for their tickets at the ticket booth. Sasha immediately headed for the first food stand she set her eyes on. Connie ran after her, and Bertholdt sighed. "They're gonna be a handful tonight, aren't they?" he asked, looking down at Krista.

"They should really just go steady, it's painful to watch."

The four spent the night playing games, watching live shows, and eating at the booths. Connie won a prize for Sasha, and Bertholdt bought a balloon for Krista. It was getting to around 11 p.m. and the teens were now just standing around by the ferris wheel talking and enjoying each others company. Kritsa looked off to the side to see a group of boys hanging around the side of a closed game stall; most of them were drinking, some were smoking, and others just sitting around. They seemed to be talking about something, and Krista flinched when one looked at her. He had long, dark brown hair in a ponytail, tan skin, and freckles spread on his cheeks. They stared at each other for a moment before she turned back to her own group of friends, trying to cut into what they were discussing.

Something made her glance back though, and she caught one boy point at her and the one she made eye contact with push himself up. _'Oh please don't come over here!'_ she pleaded in her head.

She forced herself to look at Connie, who was telling some story about his dog, and pretended like some boy wasn't approaching her.  
"Hey."

Krista jumped, and slowly looked to him. Connie had stopped talking, Bertholdt and Sasha were also watching. Up close, Krista could see that this boy was much taller than her, he was slim, and his rolled up sleeves of his dull-green shirt showed off some arm muscles; his black pants made his legs look long, and...Wait, this boy..wasn't a boy at all! Krista took in a breath, and stared at this person's chest. Breasts. Small, but they were there.

"You like my boobs?" she asked

The blonde turned red and looked this girl in the face; her features were definitely feminine. She could see now this that this was no boy. A girl wearing boy's clothes, and hanging around the boys. Krista straightened herself upright, "Do you need something?" she asked with a stern face.

The girl leaned up a bit and scratched behind her head. "Nah, nothin' babe, but the guys over here dared me to come talk to you so..."

Krista felt herself fill with rage. 'Babe'? 'Dare'? She stepped up to this unknown girl and looked her straight in the eye. "First, don't _ever_ call me 'babe' again. I am a girl, and it's inappropriate. Second, I don't care that you're friends 'dared' you to come and talk to me, I don't want to talk to you. Now leave me alone." she turned around sharply and walked away from the ferris wheel, not even turning to see if the rest followed her.

As she was walking away she heard the words 'jeez' and 'princess' come form the girl's mouth. Choosing to ignore it, she walked until she was as far away from the ferris wheel as she could get without leaving the fair. 'I hope I never see that dumb girl again!' she thought as she let the others catch up with her.

~Notes~

Okay, so it's late and I got some sudden inspiration to do this kind of angsty, lesbian 20s au kinda thing. Its the generic, rich girl gets with the kid from the wrong side of the tracks or whatever and my life needs more yumikuri. So I will be updating two fanfictions from here on out and I will do my best to do so! :D


	2. Chapter 2

"Mistress, it's time to wake up and get some breakfast."

Krista awoke to the voice of her housemaid. She opened her eyes to a squint to see the older woman opening her white curtains on her two large windows. The light blinded Krista and she laid her head back down on her pillow. "Now, now, miss, your mother wants you downstairs as soon as possible. She seems to be busy this morning, so I recommend you do as she says, so as to not agitate her." she whispered into Krista's ear then headed out of the room.

Krista laid down for a few more seconds, then decided it would be better if she got up. She stretched her arms over her head and her legs long in front of her, then went through her wardrobe. She flicked through the various dresses inside the large wooden closet, and decided to pick out a light pink one with no sleeves, a single flower at the side of the waist, and a frilled skirt. She went to her vanity, put her blonde hair into a bun, padded her face with powder, looked herself in the mirror to make sure she was presentable, then headed to the dinning room.

Her heeled shoes clanked on the hard wood floor of the dinning room. The windows at the far end of the room that took up the whole wall made the room bright with the dark red walls complimenting it so nothing was too bright. The large table - for family gatherings and parties - sat in the middle of the floor, a white tabling cloth clothing it, and many chairs surrounding it. A cabinet full of china stood on the left side of the room against the wall, its glass doors giving a full view of the intricate decorations; on the right side of the wall hung painting, giving the room some life.

Krista's father sat at the table reading the paper and drinking a mug of coffee while her mother was putting on bright red lipstick and fixing her eye make up, a plate full of untouched food in front of her. Krista sat next to her, a plate of her own set down by the housemaid. "Thank you, Helen." she said audible enough for only her to hear.

She set her napkin on her lap and began to dig into her breakfast. Looking at her mother's still untouched plate, Krista decided to ask if she was going to eat at all, breakfast was very important after all.

Her mother didn't even bother looking away from her mirror, playing with her eye lashes and adjusting them, "I'm getting ready for a breakfast party a friend of mine is throwing, I have no need to eat here." she stated flatly.

Krista looked back at her own plate, pancakes with butter on the top, two sunny side up eggs, and a piece of toast. Helen came back to her side and set down a cup of warm tea and a bottle of syrup on each side of the plate. The teen smiled briefly, glanced back at her mother, then just continued to eat.

She enjoyed her meal, drinking warm tea to down the sweetness of the pancakes, and dipping her toast in the yolk of the eggs. Her mother left somewhere between nine and nine thirty, kissing her father on the cheek and heading out the door with her purse. Once Krista was done with her food, Helen came to her telling her she had a telephone call.

"Hello?" Krista said into the speaker, holding the phone to her ear.

"Krissy!" the voice was chipper and high pitched.

She giggled. "Hello, Sasha."

Sasha chuckled on the other end, "Hey, are you busy?"

"Not at all, I just got done eating breakfast."

"Ohhhhh man!" Sasha whined "I was gonna asked if you wanted to go to the doughnut shop with me..." she mumbled the last bit in disappointment.

Krista thought for a moment. "Well..I suppose I can go get a doughnut. It'll be a little strain on my diet, but it'd be fun!"

Sasha yoohooed in joy and they set up a time to go and a place to meet halfway. They hung up after establishing everything, and Krista went to go gussy herself up.

Krista and Sasha walked down the sidewalk laughing and chatting away, completely oblivious to the rest of the wold. It was a nice day outside, sunny and not a cloud in the sky. A light breeze arose here and there, but overall the air was still. They passed people and buildings, idly enjoying each others company and talking as girls do. They had almost reached the doughnut shop when Krista heard a familiar voice.

"Hey, Princess!"

She turned to the voice and saw the girl from the other night. She was leaning against a jewelry store, that same freckled face, the dark brown, pulled back hair, still in boy's attire. Krista could feel herself cringe, this was the last thing she wanted. The girl approached them with a grin on her face. "How are you lovely ladies today?" she leaned down towards Krista. The question was obviously directed at mostly her.

"Oh, we're dandy! Just going to the doughnut shop to-" Sasha chirped, but was cut off by Krista pulling on her arm.

"We're in a hurry, so if you'll excuse us." she called out to the girl pulling Sasha along.

Krista headed straight for their destination and refused to look back and see if she was following them. They turned a corner and there it was; they stepped inside and took a seat by a window. The smell of freshly baked bread and cooking dough lingered in the air, the glass domes with many different kinds of doughnuts presented a mouth-watering sight for all people who came in.

Sasha stared at Krista with both surprise and confusion, as if she didn't understand what just happened. "Uhh..." she started, staring at Krista's flushed face, "What was all that about?"

Krista looked up, her eyebrows raised. "You don't remember her?!" she leaned forward over the table, the shock on her face was plain as day.

"That was a girl? And no, no I do not."

The blonde just sighed and leaned back in her chair. It was like Sasha to forget little things that happened. She let herself calm down a bit before speaking again. "She was at the fair the other night. I saw her with some boys on the side of one of the closed stalls, and it looked like they had been drinking. Well, she was the one who came up to me and harassed me. I didn't want her to do that again, it's embarrassing."

Sasha stared at her from across the table, looked down, to the side, then got up to go get doughnuts. Krista huffed, 'Is that really all she cares about? I was harassed Tuesday and she doesn't even care!'

The brunette came back a few minutes later with three doughnuts, and set a glazed one in front of the other girl. When she sat back down, she placed the other two doughnuts down and looked Krista straight in the eye. "I think what she did was rude, but I also don't think you should think about it too much. You said it looked like they had been drinking right? Well, maybe her approaching you was because she was intoxicated. She may have wanted to apologize out there, but I dunno. But if she does harass you more, you tell me!"

Krista felt her chest swell with happiness. "Thank you, Sasha." Krista said with a smile.

They continued to eat their doughnuts and chatted, looking out the window at the people passing by, laughing and enjoying themselves. Sasha looked at the clock on the wall and jumped out of her seat, startling Krista. "Oh! I'm late, I told Connie I would meet him at the theater 5 minutes ago!" she gathered up her purse and finished off her last doughnut, putting some money on the table in front of her friend "This is on me, thanks for coming out with me! See you later!" and she was out of the shop.

Krista sighed heavily and rested her chin in the palm of her hand, taking the money in the other. "Just go steady already, you two pain me."

She cleaned up the napkins and small plates, paid the host at the front and left the shop herself. She turned to head back the way she came and heard a voice again. "Where did your friend go?"

Krista sharply turned to face the girl that had spoken, the same girl in the boy's clothing. "Are you following me?!" she shouted, obviously angry.

The girl grinned and stepped forward but Krista stepped back "Listen, I don't know what you want, but I want you to leave me alone."

The latter seemed caught off guard, then held her hands out in defeat. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry. You must be creeped out by what happened at the fair, but I was having a couple of drinks and they dared me to go talk to 'the girl who kept staring'." she shoved her hands the pockets of her black pants and looked back at Krista.

Krista lowered her guard a bit at the apology. She looked the girl up and down, a little suspicious. "Well, I appreciate it. Please don't ever do it again if you see me, have a good day." she concluded and began to walk away.

"Wait a second."

The blonde turned back to the girl again, not saying anything. The girl took an awkward step forward again, stretching her left leg long out in front of her, "Ahhh.." she began, rubbing the back of her head. Krista could see her cheeks tinted a little pink "What's your name?"

Krista hesitated a moment. "...Krista."

"Krista, huh? Well, I'm Ymir." she held out her hand, which was trembling a bit.

Krista took is slowly, not expecting the soft shake. Ymir's hands were much larger than hers, she noticed; large palms, with long fingers. Up close she could see just how feminine Ymir actually looked, not like a boy at all. She was actually quite beautiful, even without the make up, so she wondered why Ymir wasted such beauty by choosing to dress the way she did. "Why do you wear boy's clothing?" she asked, not thinking about if it sounded rude or not.

"I dunno. I don't really seem like the dress-wearing kind of girl, do I?" she smirked.

"But you're very lovely, and you're tall so you must have nice legs to show off? Besides, girls are supposed to wear dresses."

"So much criticism in such a small person."  
Ymir began to laugh at how appalled Krista looked at her statement. "Well excuse me for trying to help you out!" she cried and stormed off.

Ymir laughed some more, raising a hand to her face and calling out "Hope to see you soon, Krista!"

And it was true, she had hoped to see Krista a lot more.

~NOTES~

The dining room was a little hard for me to describe because I could picture it in my head but I wasnt sure how to write it in a professional, writer kind of way, so I'm sorry if my description isnt very good..Well, they finally learn each others' names! :D I'll be updated We'll Find A Way soon, I just have to figure out what I want to do for the second chapter and then I'll type it up. So wait for that! Thank you for reading chapter two!


	3. Chapter 3

Ymir strode home with happiness swirling in her stomach; she felt warm and couldn't hide the smile that spread across her face. With her hands placed in her pockets, she about bounced with every step. She finally knew her name, she couldn't stop thinking about the adorable, small, blonde since the night she had talked to her. _'Note to self, drinking gets you places.'_ she thought to herself, but also made a note not to do it too often seeing as how it was illegal.

Ymir always knew she was somehow different. While other women were fanning themselves over famous actors like John Barrymore, and Douglas Fairbanks, Ymir couldn't help but fond over the women. She had always known it wasn't necessarily right for a woman to be attracted to another woman, but she honestly didn't care one way or another about what the others thought. She wanted a woman, and people would have to deal with that. Though that mindset often got her in trouble, with the way she would speak to girls like a boy and people would talk, and she got in many fights because of it. But it was who Ymir was, and who was she to deny anything about herself?

Whistling a tune she had heard on the radio the other day, she came up to her porch, stepping up the wooden steps, and opened the door. She didn't bother to declare she was home, because, most likely, everyone else was gone. She was an only child, and her mother was forever out doing whatever she felt, while her father constantly worked to keep a roof above their heads. Life in the past 3 years had certainly been better for them, but not as good as it was for others. Still, at least they weren't living in the slums.

The house was pretty plain, light brown walls and white carpet, no upstairs, and the only rooms were a living room, kitchen, bathroom, and too bedrooms. The living room was neatly decorated with two vintage looking couches, a small book self, a nightstand with a lamp next to one couch, and a radio on another nightstand next to the other. There were no decorations on the walls, what was the point if no one was ever home to admire them? And the kitchen...It was just a kitchen, a place to keep and cook food.

It was always silent there, aside from when her father would get home at night and listen to the radio in the living room for a bit. Even then, there was no "family time". He was tired, her mother was tired, and she wasn't close enough to them to have a good time anyway. Ymir figured something was a little wrong with her tiny family, they weren't full, and weren't close like others were. Other families were like a tight knit of close friends, while hers was like they were all strangers; just three random people living together.

Ymir let all of that drift from her mind and walked down the hallway to her tiny bedroom; beige walls with a white carpet, filled with only a single bed against the wall by the door, a dresser on the far left wall, and a radio on a nightstand next to her bed. She didn't have much, but what more could she need? Sure, it'd be nice to have more things, but all of the necessities were right here, a place to sleep, a place to store clothes, and something to listen to when she was bored.

She closed the door behind her and tuned the radio knob until she found a station, playing Fanny Brice's "Second Hand Rose", and she flopped on her bed, the springs underneath the mattress making it rock. She laid down and closed her eyes, listening to the tune fill the room.

_"Father has a business_  
_Strictly second-hand_  
_Everything from toothpicks to a baby grand_  
_Stuff in our apartment_  
_Came from Father's store_  
_Even things I'm wearing, someone wore before"_

Ymir's happy feeling began to die down once the words were sang. She could feel her chest begin to sting and her smile faultier.

_"I'm wearing second-hand hats_  
_Second-hand clothes_  
_That's why the call me Second Hand Rose"_

Frustrated and becoming angry, Ymir turned the radio to another channel that seemed to be news. She didn't care in the slightest about the news report, but she left it there anyway, using the sound as white noise. Putting her arms behind her head, she closed her eyes and thought about Krista. She was so tiny and frail looking, but so outspoken, and a little rude even. But something about her was so...memorizing. Her skin looked soft, and her eyes, those big blue eyes, were the most beautiful things Ymir'd ever seen.

Just when Ymir was getting relaxed and lost in her thoughts, a loud banging came from her window. She bolted up to see Reiner knocking, with a wide grin on his face. Ymir stood from her bed with a groan and lifted the window. "What?" she asked, making sure to sound irritated. She was thinking about such nice things...

"Eren and Jean are at it again, come and watch! Annie and I are taking bets!" he began to walk backwards away from the window, motioning with his hand for Ymir to follow.

With a sigh, she decided that it'd be pretty funny to see the two biggest idiots in the neighborhood fight out whatever they disagreed about. She swung her leg over the edge of the windowsill and climbed out, shutting it behind her.

Her and Reiner jogged down the street where the others had gathered. A bruised and dirtied Jean punching Eren to the ground, Armin begging hopelessly for them to quit, Annie watching silently with her arms crossed over her chest, and a few other neighborhood kids instigating the fight. With no sign of Mikasa, Ymir wondered how long this fight would actually last before she pulled Eren away.  
The two stopped beside Annie, Reiner asking what he missed. "Eren got a few punches in, but Jean is kicking his ass today. Eren deserves this, after that comment he made about Marco."

And then the whole thing made sense, anyone that said _anything_ about Marco in front of Jean was sure to get their ass handed to them. Marco had died only 6 months ago after some terrible train accident that Jean refuses to talk about. Everyone had been a little messed up over it, since the freckled boy was a big part of their lives, but Jean wasn't the only one hurt by it.

The fight went on brutally, ending suddenly when Mikasa seemed to come out of nowhere and break the two up. She took Eren into their house, whom had a bloody nose, busted lip, and a black eye, Armin following suit. Jean escaped with only a few bruises and mostly dirtied clothes, and even once everything was over his rage was still visible. Fights happened often now a days, what with Marco dead, Jean being even more of an insensible prick, and Eren a hotheaded moron. It was all stupid and Ymir didn't see how anyone thought these silly little punches back and fourth excited everyone. She looked over to Reiner and Annie, Reiner handing her a couple cents. Everyone cleared and began to go home, Ymir still standing in the same spot.

She looked around at all the simple houses and some more of the kids playing outside. Her neighborhood wasn't exactly the best per say, but it was better than the slums. There were often fights, many of the kids' parents weren't around, when they were, arguing could be heard from a block down, and everyone just kind of held their own. Still, it was the place to live if you weren't poor or middle class, but just in between the two. A place where the kids who didn't exactly fit in had a place to feel like they belonged.

Ymir finally snapped back to reality when she noticed that it had gotten dark; how long had she been standing there - practically in melancholy? She glanced around and noticed everyone was gone. She decided that she should head home too, turned on her heels, and headed for her house.

.

Ymir stepped in the door and the smell of of cigarettes invaded her nostrils. She coughed and looked to the couch closest the the front windows where her mother was sitting, legs crossed, ash trey on the nightstand, and cigarette in hand. She had noticed that the ash trey had at last 5 other cigarettes put out in it already. She looked away, a tug at her chest, and began walking to her room.

"And where the hell have you been?" her mother called out to her in her smooth, low voice.

Ymir turned to face her. "Outside." she stated simply.

Her mother sighed out some smoke and glanced at her daughter. "Don't get lip with me young lady. Where have you been?" her voice was calm, but her face had a hint of annoyance.

Ymir rubbed that back of her head and put one hand in her pocket. She glanced around the room, hesitating a bit before admitting to what she had been up to. "Eren and Jean were fighting again so I wen to watch."

The teen watched her mother inhale another hit of her cigarette, a long drag, her chest rising with the inhalation. She pulled the cigarette out of her mouth, red lipstick staining the white paper, "What's so interestin' about watching to boys fight anyway? They just dirty their clothes and throw their fists in each other faces." Ymir watched the grey fumes come from her mouth as she spoke.

"Yeah." she stated flatly and headed for her room again.

"Ymir." her mother called out again, taking Ymir by surprise.

She turned back and stared at the woman, not saying a thing. This time her mother looked directly at her, "Let's go dress shopping tomorrow, you and me."

Ymir fidgeted where she stood, she was mostly nervous around her mother because she didn't know how to communicate with her, they were like strangers in the same home. "Do I really look like the dress-wearing type?" she asked with a crooked smile.

"You're right." the latter said with a deep sigh, "You look like a burly man."

That struck Ymir. Her smile disappeared and she stared her mother hard in the eye. "So," she continued, putting out her cigarette. "That's why we're going dress shopping tomorrow. I'll be busy in the morning, so let's meet at Sina's tomorrow at two."

Ymir nodded in agreement, turning on her heels and went inside her bedroom, shutting the door behind her. She turned on the radio and flopped on her bed, getting nothing but static from it. She laid her arm over her eyes, ignored the static, and gritted her teeth. 'Burly man' repeating in her head, over and over.

Ymir chucked to herself. "Thanks mom." she mumbled sarcastically.

~NOTES~

I know I said I'd update We'll Find A Way but i just cant think of anything. I'm so wrapped up in this fic, but once i get an idea for the other one i'll type it up right away.

this chapter was pretty much just a summary of what Ymir's home life is like, sorry if its a bit boring or whatever. i had someone review it before i put it up and they thought it was fine, but i still feel like its a little off so please tell me ways i could've made this chapter better for future ones! thanks for reading. (also sorry the -/-/./ thing keeps changing, but the things dont show up when i go to publish it so im trying to find something that will)


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